Friday, February 20, 2015

The Abbeys, one of Chicago’s longest-running and best power pop bands, will be performing tonight at 27 Live in Evanston.

Congratulations to The Telepaths, who will be celebrating their 10th Anniversary tonight by performing at Silvie’s Lounge, the venue they played on their very first gig. The show starts at 10:00 PM.

Beatles fans will be gathering next Wednesday, February 25th in front of Capitol Records in Hollywood for a George Harrison 71st Birthday Celebration. Guests are encouraged to bring flowers and candles to decorate Harrison’s star on the Walk Of Fame. Chris Carter, who hosts the Breakfast With The Beatles radio program in Los Angeles, will serve as host, and there will be an open mic.

Here in Chicago, Terri Hemmert will be throwing a George Harrison Birthday Bash on her Breakfast With The Beatles show on WXRT this Sunday morning from 8:00 AM to 10 AM.

On the night before. There’s bound to be a George song or two when Phil Angotti and Jay Goeppner, AKA The Beatles Brothers, perform at Colleti’s in Chicago tomorrow night, February 21st. These guys have been performing together for over 25 years.

Signal Ensemble Theatre has an added incentive for people to check out their production of Brett Neveu’s Red Bud tomorrow night, February 21st. The critically acclaimed playwright, who has had several hits on the Chicago theatre scene, will be on hand for a Questions and Answers session with audience members after the show.

The Bishop’s Daredevil Stunt Club, whose fun and catchy holiday single “Bad Sweater Christmas Party” was reviewed here last December 17th, will be performing at The Abbey Pub next Thursday, February 26th, along with Crybaby, Po Boy Special, and The Shakin’ Moneymakers. There’s more to The Bishop’s Daredevil Stunt Club than novelty songs, as evidenced by the B-side of that holiday single—a catchy tune called “Never Be Big Stars” that evokes Cheap Trick.

There are just a couple days left to support the Mary-Arrchie Theatre’s IndieGoGo funding campaign for its upcoming production of Douglas Maxwell’s Our Bad Magnet. The money raised will go toward paying those involved with the production. Reaching that goal would certainly add to the celebratory mood of director Carlo Lorenzo Garcia’s birthday party on Sunday. Our Bad Magnet will run at Mary-Arrchie from March 26th through April 26th.

Throwback Thursday: It’s not just for Facebook anymore. The Double Door on Milwaukee Avenue is hosting an eclectic Throwback Thursday event on February 26th that will feature bands covering The Byrds, The Pixies, Led Zeppelin, and Faith No More. The official Facebook page attributes the Faith No More tribute to “Software Giant, oh my god,” and I’m not sure if that means two bands or that the person who created the page is really impressed with Software Giant. The Lucky Dutch are covering Led Zeppelin and the Geoff Dolce Group will bring The Pixies to life. Singer-guitarist Phil Angotti, who has tribute shows running through his veins; Eric Chial from The Bob Mots and Penthouse Sweets; Mike Zelenko from Material Issue; and Brian Stout will take flight as The Byrds.

Music On Stage will be performing the musical Hairspray tomorrow and Sunday at Cutting Hall in Palatine. Their production will run on weekends through March 8th.

Singer-guitarist Laura Joy has released a video for “Takes A While,” a track from her second EP Between Or Words. There will be a release party at The Hideout on Thursday, March 5th.

Now that the world knows who is on the cover of this year’s Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue, speculation has turned to which musician will grace the cover of author Ken Sharp’s Power Pop Heroes - Vol. 2 book. The first installment of Sharp’s trilogy devoted to the origins and highlights of the genre sported an illustrated Pete Townshend in full windmill. Since Vol. 2 will have a 37 page interview with Shoes, there could very well be an acrobatic Gary Klebe or one of the Murphy brothers on the cover. Other acts (and possible cover models) featured in Vol. 2 include Cheap Trick, Pezband, The Records, XTC, Squeeze, Dwight Twilley, and The Ramones.

Also on the power pop front, Boston-based filmmaker Justin Fielding’s work on The Power Pop Movie continues despite the mountains of snow that currently cover his hometown. He’s been posting on Facebook about the interviews he has conducted, which include iconic writer Ira Robbins of Trouser Press magazine.

International Pop Overthrow kicks off its 2015 season on March 6th and 7th at the Cactus Jack venue in Phoenix. Two Chicagoans—Phil Angotti and Tommi Zender—will be on the schedule; along with Lemon Krayola, Carol Pacey and The Honey Shakers, Action Jets, and seven other acts. But no Dave Rave?! IPO moves on to Detroit from April 2nd through the 4th, and later, it stops in Nashville from April 30th through May 2nd. Dave Rave will perform in both of those cities. Chicago - IPO will fall somewhere between Detroit and Nashville but that schedule hasn’t been officially announced yet. I do know from Facebook posts that Larry O. Dean is doing a solo show on April 23rd and The Romeros are performing on April 25th. Both shows are at the Red Line Tap.

I just received a promo disc for Strange Fruit And Veg, the latest mind-blowing collection of various artists from the UK vinyl-only label Fruits de Mer. There’s a mix of original music and eclectic cover versions recorded by current psych and prog bands within these 18 tracks. The highlights include Trojan Horse doing Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s “Ohio”; Rob Gould’s take on “Tomorrow Never Knows” by The Beatles; The Crawlin Hex doing the classic “Who Do You Love?” and Vert:x performing “Circles” by Hawkwind. I’ll be doing a full review of Strange Fruit and Veg in the near future.

0
comments:

Followers

About This Blog

Broken Hearted Toy is an eclectic celebration of creativity, with over 2,000 posts since 2009.

It's based in Chicago but covers power pop, garage, cutting-edge, and 1960s rock from around the globe; along with occasional bits on art; literature; and theatre.

Top of the hill is a nice place to be at. - - - "Elevated Observations" by The Hollies.

Check out some of my previoius creative endeavors.

Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff was a weekly Internet show created by and starring Jeff Kelley. It mostly consisted of comedy bits and obscure 1960s garage rock set to vintage TV and film clips but also spotlighted entertainment events around Illinois.

My wife Pam and I created a handful of series (each episode was about two minutes long) that were shown on Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. They included Manchester Gallery (see description below); Old Days, which I hosted in the persona of a cranky old man named Fritz Willoughby; Roving Reporter, where I played the clueless title character; What's With Terry?, a performance arts program; and Hanging With The Hollies, a takeoff on Breakfast With The Beatles.

I've also worked with Kelley and Willy Deal on comedy clips, and with Kelley and David Metzger on films for the annual Nightmare on Chicago Street Halloween festival in Elgin.

I'm particularly proud of this 21-episode comedy series Pam and I created for Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. Each installment was a few minutes long, and featured me portraying Terrence, the curator of a pop culture museum.

I was a staff writer for this Chicago-based magazine from 1987 to 2015. The Illinois Entertainer has been covering rock music for over 40 years, and can be found in stores and entertainment venues, as well as in an online edition.

Chicago Art Machine was a web-based publishing company run by Editor-in-Chief, Kathryn Born, and Managing Editor, Robin Dluzen, that included Chicago Art Magazine, Chicago DIY Film,Chicago Performance And Trailers, and TINC. Most of my submissions appeared in Chicago DIY Film and Chicago Performance And Trailers, although I contributed to all the online Chicago Art Machine publications.

I was a writer and performer with this local comedy group from 1989 to 2009. Famous In The Future continues to perform in the Chicago area, and appeared at every one of the Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sinstheatre festivals that were held at the Mary-Arrchie Theatre. Since the closing of the Mary-Arrchie Theatre a few years ago, Famous In The Future has carried on the tradition by presenting Yippie Fest each year in August.

I'm an active member of SCBWI, (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) and have written two Middle Grade fantasy novels. I've just finished a YA/paranormal novel, and also wrote a suspense/satiric novel that takes place amidst Chicago's alternative music scene in the mid-1980s.

Broken Hearted Toy

The blog title comes from the line, "I'm the brokenhearted toy you play with" in the song "I Can't Let Go" by The Hollies. One of the great original British Invasion bands, The Hollies continue to have an immense influence on power pop bands to this day, and have finally been inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here is a video of "I Can't Let Go" being performed in 1966.